The Troubles with Whipped Cream
by Kris1907
Summary: Another story written during Marlena's amnesia


_The Troubles of Whipped Cream_

"Marlena-" Marlena turns to see her husband at the door to the ICU. She nods to him and puts up a finger to indicate that she'll be right there.

Turning back to her daughter, "Everything will be alright Belle. This little one is hanging in there." Marlena hugs her tight before wiping away her tears, "Be patient with her. Let her gain strength at her own pace."

"I'm trying mom."

Cupping her cheeks, Marlena smiles through a sob that wishes to push its way to the surface as she watches the tears slide down her daughter's pale cheeks, "I know you are sweet girl. You have been fantastic through this all. Just a little longer. That's all she nee- -" A knock is heard again and both females turn to see the owner of the interruption, both already knowing who it is. They sigh together, "I better get out there." Belle nods and Marlena takes a moment to wipe her tears and kiss her forehead, "I'll be back in a few- what anything?"

"A hot chocolate would be great."

"One hot chocolate with extra whipped cream coming up."

Belle smiles as her mom leaves the room. As soon as the door shuts, the smile vanishes and she stares at the white ceiling in hopes of stopping the onslaught of tears that wish to fall at the idea that her mother doesn't remember that she was always a marshmallow type of girl.

Stepping out into the bright room, Marlena blinks a couple of times and focuses on the floor to adjust her eyes. Crossing her arms, she uses the tips of her fingers to flip her bangs from her eyes, "What do you want?"

"I think its time for us to go home."

"Home? I have to stay with Belle."

"You've been here for hours."

Not quite able to help the sharp edge her tone takes, "There is a time limit on helping my daughter?"

His eyes narrow slightly as he takes a step towards her and asks slowly, "Marlena, did you drink your tea today? That I brought you earlier with your medicine?"

Her eyes naturally turn towards the ICU room where the thermos still sits on the table, "Um, no. Never got around to it and then John brought us coffee."

"Coffee is not good for you."

"It was this new blend from the corner café and it had whipped cream on it- couldn't say no." She smiles at him, but when she receives no response from him, the corners of her mouth fall flat. "A cup of coffee will not kill me. I'm pretty tired of tea right now."

"Then I will bring you something else."

"No thank you. I am capable-"

"I know you are but Marlena, we've been over this. You need to take care of yourself."

Her arms move out to emphasize her point, "And I am doing that. I'm fine- physically that is."

"And emotionally you are exhausted and weak." Alex takes another step towards her but stops as she turns away from him, "You need to get away from this all."

Marlena looks back through the window at her daughter hovering over the baby's bed. Quietly, "She got to hold her today. She's doing so good- fighting so hard for her momma." Wiping a tear, turns back to her husband, "I have to stay. I worry more when I'm away. At least here I can be here for Belle. Talk with her, hold her-" Her voice cracks with emotion, "Try to be her mother. Be this baby's grandmother."

"No, you need your rest."

"I will- later."

"No." His strong tone causes her to narrow her eyes, "You need to rest now. Later isn't good enough."

"Fine, I'll rest. I will go back in there and sit in a chair and will rest as I talk with my daughter." Putting her hand up to stop his protests, "That's as good as it gets because I am not leaving. I won't sleep at home. I won't sleep here. And this conversation is over."

"Marlena-" She ignores his attempts and turns to move back into the room, but a strong hand grabs her wrist and forcibly turns her back around, "Don't walk away- we aren't finished."

She stares at her arm and the fingers that are currently leaving their impression on her pale skin. Her eyes blink closed as flashes of memories blur her vision. "I am finished." His grip tightens and she barely holds back the intake of breath at the sudden pain, as more visions force their way into her brain. Flash after flash moves across the back of her eyelids and without realizing it, she wrenches her arm from his grasp and takes a step back. "I am staying here Alex-" The words come out slow and controlled, "Unless there is something else that you wanted, this conversation is done."

"Its not over. You've spent the last four days here and now you are going home." She can feel the tension rising and she quickly looks over her shoulder to make sure that Belle is not watching them through the window. "No, she isn't paying a bit of attention to you."

"She's paying attention to Claire, like it should be. Like I should be. And now, I'm going back in there to pay attention to both of my baby girls." More to herself, "I forgot-" She starts to walk past Alex towards the main hallway, but his hand once again stops her.

Like before, her eyes look at the fingers wrapped around her upper arm, "As I said Marlena, we aren't finished."

Looking at him over her shoulder, "And I promised Belle hot chocolate. If you'll excuse me, we will discuss this later."

She begins to move again but this time she is stopped by a faint pain in her neck and back as Alex pushes down on her shoulders to keep her in place. Whispering in her ear, "We're heading home now to discuss this."

"Alex stop it. You're hurting me."

"And you're hurting me by not listening."

"Let go- now."

"And then you'll go home with me, so we can spend some time together, alone?"

Marlena's face is twisted in pain, as she attempts to keep the tears from sliding down her cheeks, "Alex… stop it… please."

He turns her around to look at him, but her eyes stay focused on the floor as she tries to take in deep breaths and erase the pain that was shooting down her back. "Look at me." She tries to raise her eyes but instead closes them as more memories take over, "Marlena… look at me!"

Finally she looks up and her slightly red eyes meet his and a shiver courses through her body. "Let go… please. You're scaring me Alex."

"I wouldn't have to if you would just listen to me." His words cause an anger to fill her. She can tell its from memories and feelings of long ago, but she cannot make any of the images focus fully in her mind. "We're going home."

Finding some strength, her voice is firm, "No."

"Marlena, I won't ask you again."

"And I won't tell you again to let me go!"

Before she knows what has happened, her head is turned, eyes closed in pain and her hand instantly goes to her cheek. The blurry images focuses themselves and begin a full onslaught on her senses as she sees similar instances in her past. She doesn't want to look up at him, but her reflexes move her head before she can stop them and just as her shocked yes meet Alex's cold ones, he is pushes away from her and hit's the wall.

John's hand presses into Alex's neck, "You really are a son of a bitch, you know that? And for once I would have a reason to beat the shit out of you, but right now, I want you gone. Out of the hospital, out of my house and out of Salem. You get one shot to do it yourself before I help you."

He sees the security officers walking up the hallway, John pushes Alex towards them, "Show Dr. North the door, will ya? Before I do." As soon as the men begin walking down the hall, John turns towards Marlena and cups her cheeks gently to exam the damage. "That's going to leave a mark. Bastard… did he hurt you anywhere else?"

"No. It's fine. I'm fine John."

"Its not fine Doc. You're not fine. He hit you. That's not fine." John looks towards the ICU room and gently moves Marlena and himself out of the way of the windows. Shaking his head at the situation, "And let me guess, you won't press charges, right? Well, then I just better hope the good doctor took my warning seriously."

"John-"

His anger quickly turns to grief and sadness as he sees the confusion and hurt in her eyes. He takes in a deep breath and rests their foreheads together as he forces his body to relax and allow the rage to seep out of him, "Marlena- I'm so sorry." A tear slides from his eye as he stares at her already bruising cheek, wondering why it had to go this far. "Nobody has the right to touch you like that." He can see the police pictures taken so long ago and immediately sucks in a breath, "Alex got angry at you and not for the first time and now he has hit you. He hit you Doc. You can't write that off as fine, because now you have to look in the mirror everyday and see just what he's capable of- so don't defend him to me. Please, don't."

"John- he didn't mean it!"

"Bullshit he didn't! He didn't let go of you until I made him." She goes to turn away from him, but he reaches to gently take her wrist and keep her facing him, but his hand flies away from her as soon as she flinches, "Come here-" She doesn't move but John keeps staring at her and asks softly, "Please- come here."

His gentle voice causes tears to fall as she continues to shake her head, "I'm fine."

"Then why are you crying?" He moves a step closer to her and tries a different tactic, "I know women cry happy tears at weddings, births and randomly when pregnant-" John smiles lightly when he receives a soft and tearful laugh, "But this is not one of those moments and your tears are not happy ones so please Doc, if not as your husband, let me help you as a friend. A friend who loves you and is worries about you."

"John- he didn't mean it."

"God-damnit Doc! You can't have yourself so deluded that you still believe it." Carefully he fights her to allow himself to lift up the sleeves of her arms. He sees the outline of fingerprint marks appearing and can't help but stare, "Look at this Doc. Look at it. Your wrist. Your cheek and I saw the bruises on your back yesterday. What, did he push you into the door? The wall or perhaps the railing?"

"No, I-"

"Don't!" His strong command causes her to shut her mouth almost immediately. His face softens, for he fears that he is scaring her, "Please don't make this lame-ass excuses. I was a cop for many years, Marlena. I've seen abuse cases and I know all the lines but you're stronger than that. So don't. Not after what I know. Not after what I've seen. Don't make those sad little excuses."

"Its true-" A tear falls down both of their cheeks as Marlena fails to hold the serious gaze of John's.

"Where is my Marlena?" His question comes out so soft and almost pitiful that it causes more tears to fall from her eyes. "She wouldn't stand for this- should would hit back and slam his ass in jail before he could hurt somebody else. Look at me- please." His hands move up to rest on her shoulders but he sees her reaction to his movements in her eyes. Instead of resting on her shoulders, his hands begin to gently caress them as they run down her arms and back up to her neck, "I want you to know that I am serious- that I am scared. The Marlena that I know and have loved for so long is strong and is a fighter."

"Well I'm not her anymore!"

"Yes you are! She is in there somewhere. You've fought Stefano so many times. Orpheus, stalkers, rapists, Kristen Dimera, Tony Dimera… hell even the devil and you have always won. I won't let a weak and pathetic man like Dr. North destroy you." He lifts her chin yet again and wipes away her tears, "The strength and confidence you need is inside you- you don't need me. The truth is in there, its just hiding. You're scared to face it and I understand that. I was always so scared to face my past, to know who I once was. To find out what I had done for Stefano, I didn't want to know myself as the pawn, but you taught me and you told me that I have to find it out and that I had to face it before it destroyed me. You taught me how to deal with it and now, let me return the favor. Let me teach you how to face it."

"I don't know how."

"Yes you do."

Looking up at him, she can see the truth to his convictions but she shakes her head, "You think too much of me, John."

"No, I think too little. You are so much more than I can ever tell you."

"I don't know how."

"I'll help you. You have to get him out of your life. Make him go, or let me kick his ass out of here and then you deal with the memories, the flashes and the emotions one day at a time. It doesn't fix overnight but it will get better. It will all make sense, sooner or later. But it won't- it can't until you get rid of Alex. He is the person that is holding you back."

A nod is his answer and a simple request, "Hold me?"

He can't help the smile that comes to his lips as he circles his arms around her and holds her tightly to him. For the first time in months, feeling like she is safe- at least for a few moments. He reaches up to wipe her cheeks as he hears her quiet "Oh god…" and he knows that she has a long road to fight. But as her comment, "I have to go get Belle's hot chocolate" reaches his ears, he realizes for the first time, that things will work out.


End file.
